Like a marathon runner on the starting line, Rob Carducci pauses for an
anxious moment before delving into a pound of chicken wings shellacked
in mesquite barbecue sauce.

Carducci has something of a love-hate relationship with wings. It's his favorite food to shred and devour, but he's conditioned himself to neatly nibble with a knife and fork.

Such are the sacrifices it takes to maintain a giant, award-winning
beard. The hair makes for messy meals and curious stares, but it also
has earned international recognition for the Iselin resident. Carducci
represents Central Jersey on Beard Team USA, an elite group of about 200
Paul Bunyan and Salvador Dali disciples.

He took top prize at a contest in western Pennsylvania last October and helped organize a New Yorkevent in March that spotlighted facial hair as recession chic. He puts his likeness on logo stickers and shirts promoting the lumberjack look
with the slogan "This Beard's for You."

A casual choice to grow out a goatee seven years ago has evolved into a
lifestyle.

"Through the beard, I found this community," says Carducci, 27, who
works in an art supply warehouse and moonlights as a guitarist in an
acoustic post-rock band, Communication Redlight.

He continues, "You could meet a paleontologist or you could meet a
garbage man. There are women who wear fake beards. I've seen
flamboyantly gay men with big beards. It's just a bunch of great
people."

It takes grooming

The Hackettstown native has a classic full beard, letting it go long
rather than shaping it into sideburns or a Fu Manchu. Reddish-brown
bristles start just below his eyes and pour down past his chin.

It takes a good amount of grooming to stay presentable. Carducci parts
his moustache like a curtain each time he sips a beverage. He shampoos,
conditions and blows out his whiskers, combing them throughout the day
to minimize frizz and remove debris. On bad hair days, he suffers more
than most.

His parents and siblings have come to appreciate the fuzz, even if it
took a few years to acclimate. Carducci's older brother, Jay, was the
most resistant initially.

"When he first started, I didn't know why he'd do that because he's a
good-looking kid," says Jay. "I would go up to him and pretend to cut it
with my fingers. Friends of mine would say he looks like the Unabomber."

Jay continues, "Two or three years ago, I started to accept that the
beard's going to be here for a while and now I love it. It's
heartwarming to see how successful my brother's been at something that's
off the beaten path."

Carducci's beard is less a fashion statement than a whimsical alter ego.
One random day, he decided to name it Sir Roger Walters. He followed the
idea through to the point where the beard had its own persona.

"I'm kind of a plain, regular guy and I needed Sir Roger to be
everything I wasn't," he explains. "He needed to be knighted. He needed
to be glorified and looked highly upon."

Life of its own

Sir Roger has his own MySpace page, linking to some 1,616 friends and
counting. In contrast, Carducci's personal page lists a mere 440
contacts (Myspace.com/you_cant_relate).

"Other people have sites for their beards, but they haven't gone as full
into it as I have," he says. "Between the site, the T-shirts and
stickers, I've created a brand. All over . . . people will come up to me
and ask if I'm the sticker guy."

Posted on Sir Roger's home page is a spoof talk show, co-hosted by a
cardboard robot named Harvey. In the clip, Carducci essentially
interviews himself, wearing a blindfold to portray Sir Roger, who boasts
that men don't grow beards, beards grow men.

"Rob is amazingly creative and has this innate ability to market
himself," says Jay. "He put his picture on these little slips and gave
them out at bars. If you went to the bathroom, you could just put the
thing on your drink and people would leave it alone. The slips say,
'Gone to pee, leave my drink be.' "

Art and music

Carducci is a familiar face on the Jersey music scene.

"Rob is known as the punk rock kid with the beard," says Tommy Gunn,
singer for Communication Redlight. "You'll meet someone for the first
time and they'll have his sticker on their guitar case. I can't go
anywhere with him without having at least one person say, 'Sweet beard.'
Older guys call him 'chap' or 'son.' They'll say, 'Good job there,
buckaroo.' "

Although he's always been interested in art and music, Carducci didn't
have a clear career track after high school. He took a few courses at
the County College of Morris before landing a graphic design dream job,
which he eventually lost when the business got sold. For now, he's
content working behind the scenes in the art warehouse while hyping his
beard as a hobby.

"It's taken him a while to find his way in life," says Jay. "Out of all
the siblings, our brother was the homecoming king, I was involved in
student government, our sister was a cheerleader. Rob never really had
any of that, so it's fun to watch him become a part of this community."

Hirsute charmer

The Garden State isn't exactly a hotbed of beard culture. Only a couple
of Carducci's unshaven friends live in Jersey. Among them is Brian
Mantooth of Bridgeton, who drew media attention last winter weighing in
as an expert on playoff beards for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Carducci and Mantooth met via MySpace. Well, Mantooth actually
befriended Sir Roger first. The guys wound up sharing a ride in a Honda
Accord to the Pennsylvania contest, 350 miles west in a town called Oil
City. Another competitor, Matt "Beardzzz" Saccoman drove down from
Connecticut to join them.

Mantooth marveled to see his new friend and traveling companion crowned
king of beards at the event. It was a true underdog story, as Carducci
defeated more than two dozen contestants, many of them older and
hairier.

"We thought the winner would be this guy from New York City who had his
moustache waxed and wore a top hat," says Mantooth. "I guess Rob's
charisma behind the beard charmed the judges. He really played it up.
They asked him questions and he said weird things, like he enjoys
catching fireflies, stuff like that. The humor helped him win."

There were no sour grapes in the Honda on the ride home.

"It was awesome that Rob won," says Mantooth. "When they announced his
name, I ran over and picked him up and spun him around."

Beards and the ladies

Even with all the glory, life can be lonely for a grizzly man.
Carducci's beard has been a deal breaker for potential girlfriends.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, says his brother, since it weeds out
incompatible women.

"It's going to take a special person to see past the beard," Jay
explains. In the interim, Carducci pretends Sir Roger is his date at
weddings and other gatherings.

Jay adds, "It's almost like Sir Roger is part of our family. As much as
I'm dying for Rob to shave, just to see what his chin looks like again,
I think I would miss his beard. Everyone would. I could fully see us
putting Sir Roger in a box and having a little ceremony. 'Here lies Sir
Roger.' "

Carducci aspires to make a living as a full-time beardsman. Sir Roger
helped him land a freelance gig as a roving entertainer in Victorian
costume at a recent Philly theme party.

"I would love to say that I get paid for having a beard," Carducci says,
with a smile. "Maybe I can be a Rogaine model."

Facial hair heroes:

Sam Elliot, Zach Galifianakis in "The Hangover"

A close shave:

"I get the urge to change my style sometimes, maybe going with a good
set of sideburns, but then I look at my beard and I love it."

Tips for healthy beards:

Eat apricots, use tea tree oil and keep it tame with frequent combing.

Morning ritual:

"I start off by trying to think of steps I can do before I shower, like
eating or brushing my teeth or drinking something. With cereal, the milk
gets in my moustache, so I try to eat before the shower."